Improvement in corn-planters



ZSheets- Sheet2. T. ELDREDGE CORN-PLANTER. No. 175,058. Patented March21,1876.

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WITNESSES W INVENTOR C" w By .dttorney N. PETERS, PNOTO-LITHOGEAPHERWASHINGTON, D O.

UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

THOMAS ELDREDGE, OF CUBA, MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-PLANTERS.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent N0. 175,058, dated March 21,1876 application filed July 19, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, THOMAS ELDREDGE, of Cuba, in the county of Crawfordand in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Corn-Planters; and do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe accompanying drawand use the same, I will now proceed to describeits construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawings, inwhich Figure l is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of mymachine. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the line m m, Fig. 1. Fig.4 is a perspective view of one of the corn-boxes with dropping-cylinder,spout, and shaft or axle. Fig. 5 shows the construction of thedropping-cylinder.

A represents the frame of my planter, pro vided with suitable boxes onits under side, in which the axle B is placed. On each end of the axleis placed a driving-wheel, 0, provided with a clutch, a, which isfeathered on theaxle, and held in gear with the hub of the wheel bymeans of a spring, b. The clutch is thrown out of gear by means of alever, E, hinged to the frame A, and having its lower end forked tostraddle the clutch in a circumferential groove thereon. The frame A hasa longitudinal center bar, A dividing the frame into two parts, in eachof which is placed an oscillating frame, A both of said 'frames beinghung upon the axle B, and their rear ends prevented from going downbelow the main frame by the rear cross-bar of each oscillating frameprojecting beyond the side bars thereof, and forming stops against thetop of the main frame and center bar. G G represent the corn-droppingboxes, having their lower ends made in cylindrical form, and the axle Bpassing through the centers thereof, and within the same works acylinder-dropper, made in two parts, D and D, fastened together by twoof the four bolts 01, that project from the inner side of the dropper.In the circumference of the cylinder-dropper are formed four holes orrecesses, s s, to receive and carry off the corn, one-half of each ofsaid holes being formed in each partof the dropper. The outside part Dis stationary on the axle, while the inside part D is loose, and byunscrewingthe bolts 11, that fasten it to the stationary part D, saidloose part D may be turned one-eighth of a revolution, and the dropperwill then drop twice the number of hills and one-half the amount ofcorn. G of each corn-box G is hinged or pivoted a chute, H, which is, bya rod, f, connected with the front end of an arm, e, projecting from ashaft, h, which has its bearings in suitable boxes, and runs across themain frame A, the other end of the arm e being, by a rod, f,'connectedwith a slide, k, within the cylindrical casin g G. The shaft h isprovidedwith a footlever, h, by means of which it is turned in itsbearings. By operating this foot-lever the shaft is turned in itsbearings, turning the chutes H, and raising the marking-plows I attachedthereto, and at the same time moving the slide k, so as to close theaperture w in the cylinder to prevent dropping. In the bottom of eachchute H is a hinged drop or valve, m, connected at its rear end by arod, '5, with a lever, J, pivoted on the outside of the chute, and theother end of this lever is operated upon by the projecting bolts d, toopen the valve for dropping the corn deposited in the chute. As soon asa bolt clears the lever, and the corn has dropped through, the valvecloses of its own weight.

For coverers, I use diamond-shaped plows K, each attached to aroundplow'shank, L, formed with octagon-shaped ends. The plow is fastened tothe lower octagon-shaped end of the shank L by means of a plate, 10,formed with a half-octagon groove, and bolts n n, connecting the plowand plate. By the use of these bolts or set-screws the plate 1) isloosened and changed on the shank, changing the plow also, so that theplow will throw dirt either to or from the row; and when the plows aresecured either straight forward or at an angle the polygonal standardand grooved-plate connection allows a square bearing, and prevents theplows from turning on the standards, as would Under the cylindrical partbe the case if the standard end were round, and the plate made toconform thereto. The upper end of the shank L is placed in a swiveledholder, P, attached to the oscillating frame A, and fastenedby aset-screw, t, by which means the shank can be set in the holder, tobring the plow to any desired distance from the row, and also be raisedor lowered, as required. On each shank L is placed a collar, v, formedon the lower rear end of a brace, R, the upper front end of which isflattened, and passed through a keeper, to, attached to the frame A, anda wooden pin, y, holds the brace therein, which pin will break when theplow strikes any obstruction, so that the plow will fall back. On thecenter of the axle B is secured a finger marker, S, the points of whichcorrespond with the dropping holes in the cylinder. On the fi out endsof the oscillating frames A are footrests W, by means of which saidframes may be tilted to raise the cultivator-plows out of the ground.

I do not broadly claim a valve arranged in the chute, which valve isautomatically operated by means of said distributor, as I am aware thatsuch is not new.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The dropping-cylinder herein described, consisting of the part D madefast on the shaft or axle B, and the part D made movable thereon, andfastened to the stationary part by means of the bolts d, and having thedropping cups or recesses 8 formed in both parts, substantially as andfor the purposes herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the dropping-cylinder D D and chute H, of theprojecting bolts March, 1875.

THOMAS ELDREDGE. Witnesses:

G. L. EVER'I, T. J. WEBB.

